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Michael Frolik saw plenty of the Minnesota Wild as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks.

With that in mind, the Winnipeg Jets forward was asked to provide a scouting report as his team prepared for the first of five meetings between Central Division rivals this season tonight at Xcel Energy Center.

“We played them last year in the first round and I’ve played against them for a while — they are a good team,” said Frolik. “We have to be smart. We have to play simple, not have any turnovers and be good in the defensive zone. That’s what we’re working on.”

Winger Matt Halischuk looks like he’s drawing in on the fourth line for Anthony Peluso and will make his Jets’ debut on a line with James Wright and Jim Slater.

The Jets (2-1) are looking to bounce back after suffering their first loss of the season, while the Wild (0-1-2) are searching for their first victory of the campaign after three one-goal defeats.

“The beginning of the game is going to be important, we know the emphasis there,” said Jets head coach Claude Noel. “We have to play our game and focus on our game. These guys are going to have some urgency. You expect they’re going to be ready to go. That’s going to be our biggest challenge, how well we start and how well we play the game.

“We have some areas we have to get better, besides the starts.”

The Jets are in a stretch of playing three games in four days, so they went with an optional skate on thursday, with seven skaters and both goalies taking part.

Ondrej Pavelec gets the call in goal for the Jets, while the Wild counter with backup Josh Harding.

In an effort to try and spark their offence — which has produced only two goals at even strength this season — the Wild are juggling their top two lines, bumping Nino Neiderreiter up to the top line with Mikko Koivu and Zach Parise, while putting Jason Pominville on a unit with Mikael Granlund and Dany Heatley.

“What we’re looking for tonight is balancing things a little more,” said Wild head coach Mike Yeo. “We have to make sure we don’t get caught up in the whole big picture of we’re 0-3. We have to make sure we’re prepared and focused to play this game the right way tonight.”

“We’ve done a lot of good things, but at the end of the day, we don’t have a win so we’ve got to find a way to get on board,” added Pominville. “It starts with our compete (level) and if we can do that for a full game, I like our chances, especially if we keep playing the way we have.”

Matt Dumba, the 19-year-old defenceman, draws in for just his second NHL game.

Yeo confirmed that Darcy Kuemper will serve as the backup, since Niklas Backstrom remains day-to-day with a lower-body injury.